Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies and provide access to justice for all
2022
1/4
of humanity live in conflict-affected areas, with more than 100 million people forcibly displaced.
Goal 16 focuses on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, ensuring access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Ongoing and new violent conflicts around the world are derailing a global path to peace. People also face challenges accessing justice due to ineffective institutions. On top of this, structural injustice, inequality and other human rights challenges are eroding social cohesion and trust in critical institutions.
To achieve SDG 16, governments, civil society and communities need to work together to find lasting solutions to conflict and insecurity. Strengthening the rule of law and promoting human rights are key to building peaceful and inclusive societies, as are combating corruption and reducing the flow of illicit arms.
Healthy civic participation is critical to building cohesive societies, where everyone has a stake. By 2025, UNDP aims to help 800 million people take part in elections, many for the very first time.
The cost of corruption
Corruption is one of the scourges of modern life. Its costs are staggering.
Of the approximately US$13 trillion that governments devote to public spending, up to 25 percent is lost to corruption. From 2000 to 2015, money leaving Africa illegally amounted to $836 billion, about 3.7 percent of the continent’s GDP.
But the costs aren’t just financial — corruption is also paid for in human potential.
Photo credits
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UNDP Pakistan
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